Mathematics and Statistics · Inquiry A · Years 7–8
What the Data Shows
Your class has a real dataset — sports results, weather, survey responses, or school habits. Numbers tell a story, but only if you ask the right questions and check whether conclusions are fair.
Your mission
Why it matters
Mathematicians and statisticians look for patterns, variation, and whether claims match the data.
- You'll make
- A statistical investigation report with graphs, summary, and justified conclusions for a class data exhibition.
- Who it's for
- Class data exhibition
- How long
- About 4 weeks, in any term
- Who takes part
- The whole Years 7–8 class, together
Your first step
Inspect your dataset. Write the question you want to answer and predict what pattern you expect before graphing.
Your journey: SOLVE
- See the Pattern
- Organise Information
- Link Ideas
- Verify
- Explain
Every stage has Getting started, On track and Stretch support, so the whole class can work on it together.
Explore more
Trusted New Zealand sites for your research.
- CensusAtSchool ↗
CensusAtSchool NZ
Real survey data from NZ students to investigate.
- NZ Maths ↗
NZ Maths
Maths problems and activities for NZ classrooms.
- Stats NZ ↗
Tatauranga Aotearoa
Official New Zealand data on people, places and the economy.
For teachers: how to run it
Ensure clean data before week 1. Mini-lesson on graph choice. Pair check of conclusions against data in week 4.
Run it with a combined Years 7–8 class in any term. Students record each stage in Kōkiri Learn; you see progress by stage, never rankings or scores.
Ready to run it with your class?
Free trial for NZ schools. One combined Years 7–8 class, any term.